Defra
- Date 1 November 2021
- Sector Other
- Decision(s) EIR 12.4.e: Not upheld
The complainant has requested minutes of a meeting that the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (‘DEFRA’) held relating to the England Peat Strategy. DEFRA refused to provide the information citing regulation 12(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIR as its basis for doing so. The Commissioner’s decision is that DEFRA was entitled to rely upon regulation 12(4)(e) as a basis for refusing to disclose the information and that the public interest favoured maintaining the exemption. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take no steps.